ENLA is excited to announce our partnership in the LA County Pledge to Prepare Weekend, along with partners from LA County OEM, LA City EMD, American Red Cross, FEMA, Dept. of Public Health and more. Please see the attachments regarding the “Pledge to Prepare” event June 6-8, a County wide initiative to engage faith-based communities in emergency preparedness. All houses of worship are encouraged to participate in this event and to promote preparedness activities within their congregations . Please see LIST of activities. Any house of worship who participates in this campaign between now and June 8th will be recognized at a press conference on a date later in June. To register your organization for the Pledge to Prepare event, simply log onto https://lacopledgetoprepare.eventbrite.com; click on REGISTER. We ask that you help us in distributing this information and getting the word out about this great event.

The following story was passed along to us by one of our DMAC partners. It is an emergency management professional’s account of dealing with a water main break at their home, which left them without water for several days.This serves as an excellent reminder for why we should be prepared to go without water for several days.

Here are the personal lessons learned by someone who preaches preparedness for living.

“What I remember the most is having water barrels that will fit in the back of my SUV so I could go and get them filled up. My 50 gallon would not fit – thank goodness I also bought a 30 gallon barrel and it fit upright in the back of my SUV with a hose (white hose for potable water) filling it. Up to this point I only thought about storing water so the bigger the barrel the better. However, my situation opened my eyes to also having barrels – once emptied – can be transported in my vehicle and filled.

Liquid waste was manageable. We could flush out the bowl (with several collections) with the water tank and then refill the water tank.
However – we were not so confident with solid waste because of the need for several flushes on one use so the water did not go so far.
Instead we had to make a plan for the bathroom – closest and available. Luckily our offices are in walking distance to our home – not that we would walk but it tells you just how convenient it was in a very inconvenient situation. Even that close made for a very stressful existence.

Drinking water was not a problem as we have cases and cases of bottled water. However I made the decision to wash the dishes (the absolutely few we needed) with the barrel water but opted to do the final rinse with the bottled water. We also gave the bottled water to the dog and our pet birds. We didn’t need any intestinal issues with the circumstances we were under.

Due to the size of our home we have a re-circulating pump. It is imperative those things get turned off as soon as your water stops. If it runs dry it will die.

Having a way to collect the rinse water is helpful as I could dump that water on fragile outside plants not getting their normal irrigation.

If someone has to manually turn off their water – they have to very slowly open up the valve when they are turning it back on. This helps the pressure to gently fill the pipes rather than all at once and possibly experience a break in the line due to the rapid pressure.

I think that’s about it – oh – forget showering….having baby and body wipes in the package was very helpful. But that first hot shower after the water came back on will never be forgotten!”

JOIN US for an interactive tabletop exercise that will provide you with the opportunity to learn more about the role of Emergency Network Los Angeles (ENLA) during a disaster. Listen as our keynote speakers describe the role that ENLA and its member organizations play in supporting disaster management efforts throughout Los Angeles. Participate in guided discussion sessions that enable you to analyze and provide feedback on critical disaster response and recovery activities with and for ENLA.

This exercise will provide opportunities to learn about the following:

REGISTRATION

Participation in this event is by invitation only. Online registration is required and seats will fill quickly.

This event is free of charge with continental breakfast provided.

DATE AND TIME

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

8:00AM-12:00PM

Location information will be provided upon registration confirmation.

EMERGENCY NETWORK LOS ANGELES

ENLA is the Los Angeles County VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters). It is a coalition of nonprofit organizations, along with government and private-sector partners, with some disaster function. ENLA serves as the forum where organizations share knowledge and resources throughout the disaster cycle—preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation — to help disaster survivors and their communities. Together we foster more effective service through the four C’s—communication, coordination, cooperation and collaboration — by providing convening mechanisms and outreach for all people and organizations involved in disasters. For more information about ENLA, please visit www.enla.org.

The Governor directed the board to immediately allow oil refineries to make an early transition to winter-blend gasoline. Winter-blend gasoline typically isn’t sold until after October 31.

“Gas prices in California have risen to their highest levels ever, with unacceptable cost impacts on consumers and small businesses,” said Governor Brown. “I am directing the Air Resources Board to immediately take whatever steps are necessary to allow an early transition to winter-blend gasoline.”

Winter-blend gasoline is a mixture that evaporates more quickly than the gasoline sold in summer months, which takes longer to evaporate and is better for air quality during the smog season. Allowing an early transition to winter-blend gasoline could increase California’s fuel supply by up to an estimated 8-10 percent with only negligible air quality impacts.

Gas prices in California have skyrocketed over the past week due to a tightening of fuel supplies caused by shutdowns at Tesoro and Exxon refineries. The Exxon refinery came back online Friday and Tesoro is scheduled to resume production early next week. Combined, these actions are expected to stabilize and reduce fuel prices.

The text of the Governor’s letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is below:

October 7, 2012

Mary Nichols, Chairman

California Air Resources Board

1001 I Street

Sacramento, CA 95812

Chairman Nichols:

California is temporarily experiencing tight gasoline supplies that are causing dramatic spikes in the price consumers must pay to fuel their vehicles. Gas prices in the State have set new record highs, and gas is completely unavailable at some stations in southern California. If this situation continues, it may cause unacceptable price impacts for consumers and small businesses, significant economic disruption, and serious harm to public safety and welfare.

California refiners are required to produce a summer-blend gasoline through October in most areas of the State. After October 31, a winter-blend gasoline is allowed. Due to the composition of the gasoline, refiners can produce more of the winter-blend than the summer-blend.

In light of the tight gasoline supplies and resulting price spikes, we should not wait until the end of the month to start production of our winter-blend gasoline. Allowing refiners to make an early transition to winter-blend gasoline could quickly increase fuel supply and provide a much needed safety valve with negligible air quality impacts. Accordingly, I am directing that the Air Resources Board immediately take whatever steps are necessary to allow for an early transition to winter-blend gasoline to be manufactured, imported, distributed, and sold in California.

The conference will be held at The California Endowment on Monday October 8th andTuesday October 9th. You can attend one or both days. EMS professionals and students will receive a discount. Also Continuing Education credits will be available.

On Tuesday October 9th, we have two excellent disaster presentations including

· Lessons Learned from Aurora Colorado Shootings presented by one of the Emergency Department Nurses and the nurse who served as Incident Commander for Colorado Children’s Hospital

· Lessons Learned from the Haiti Earthquake presented by Dr. Henri Ford, a Haitian native and also Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Ford continues to do work in Haiti following this disaster.

Scholarships are available and if individuals are interested, they should email Lenee Richards at lrichards@chla.usc.edu

The Asian Pacific Community Fund partners with Verizon to financially assist students in pursuit of higher education as they face the challenge of significantly rising costs when obtaining a college degree. These awards will support those who excel academically, are leaders amongst their peers, and are making a positive impact in their communities.

Please see attached flyer for workshop in Nogales, Arizona on September 27, 2012. This 8-hour, planning and management-level course trains faith-based community organization (FBCO) representatives, management level emergency managers, and first responders from small and rural communities to strategically mobilize and engage members for FCBO’s including religious charities, nonprofits’ such as the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, churches (both affiliated and unaffiliated), temples, synagogues, mosques, and NGOs ect, in a reciprocal approach to disaster planning that is integrated into current local and statewide emergency management efforts.